Oblivion
by SuspianFeels
Summary: The Doctor arrives on the planet of Nira - one of the first successful planets to be colonised by humans - for some well needed peace. But what he finds instead is a colony in the middle of a war and a dark part of history falling into place.
1. Prologue

A savage storm raged outside, but the storm was the least of the council's problem. For the past hour and a half, they had been desperately trying to convince their Commander to do _anything_ but disagree with them.

In their minds, the only reasons why she was disagreeing were because their Commander was young and worst of all (in their eyes), a woman.

Younger Commanders were known to be unpredictable and reckless with their power, not having enough time to develop and learn the skills to truly lead before leadership was thrust upon them. Female Commanders were supposedly harder to control, their emotions usually got the best of them and would make quick decisions, ending with dire consequences.

Thankfully for the advisors of the Commanders; young and female Commanders came few and far between, giving the advisors "better Commanders to advise".

"None of us here wants war, Commander." Cian told the Commander firmly.

The Commander's eyes narrowed, glaring at Cian as if he was an insect she was about to squish under her boot. "We both know what you want, Cian. If you think me unfit to command... issue the challenge. And let's get on with it."

Cian stepped down at Thalia's threat, stumbling over his words. "I-I'm sorry, Commander."

The Commander averted her gaze back to her other advisors. "Gentlemen, let's get back to the issue at hand."

One of the advisors coughed almost awkwardly before continuing his earlier train of thought. "Commander, as I was saying earlier, if we don't close the gates now and seal off the city; the entire colony will be lost. We already have reports of the invaders being seen at Eden's Pass."

The Commander sighed. "Bran, if we close the gates, we will slowly starve to death and whoever is outside the gates will be left to the invaders. We cannot close the gates, it would be genocide."

"Commander, would you really subject your people to be taken by the invaders?"

"They'd still be alive, Bran. How many sections do we have left standing?"

Bran sighed heavily. "Us and Sector Eleven."

"And Sector Eight?"

"We haven't had contact with Sector Eight since last night, we assume it's gone down as well."

The Commander hesitated, looking out of the window at the storm raging outside, taking a moment to compose herself before she turned back to her advisors. "Seal all gates to Polis and Sector Eleven – anyone found outside of the gates must be immediately quarantined. If they've already met the invaders, execute them immediately, no exceptions."

She waved both her hands to send her advisors away to do their duty before rubbing the side of her head with her fingertips. She had a headache that was only seeming to be getting progressively worse with every time someone speaks.

Taking advantage of her alone time, Thalia paced around the empty room. The walls and floor were clearly falling apart – much like everything else in the colony. Thalia assumed that when the tower was originally built, it looked well-put together and would stand for hundreds of years. But it seemed that just three hundred years after completion, it was falling apart and was on its last legs already.

Sighing heavily, Thalia hid her face in her hands and bit back a sob. All the stress was finally getting to her – especially with the news that Sector Eight was down. While she couldn't remember much about life in Sector Eight, she remembered that it was home. She remembered how beautiful the mountains looked when it snowed, she could almost hear the crunch the frozen grass made when it was stepped on.

Her memories were ruined when they were replaced with images of a woman's body being burned alive, her screams echoing inside Thalia's head, causing her to almost cry out herself.

A hand on Thalia's shoulder brought her back to reality and in front of her was Gaspar, her personal advisor and mentor. "Thalia, are you alright?" he asked gently.

Thalia nodded, taking deep and slow breaths to calm herself down. "I'm fine. It's just… five years on, you'd think I would be used to the visions."

Gaspar gave her a gentle smile, letting go of Thalia's arm. "Out of the seven Commanders I have served; you are the bravest of them all. They would cower in corners at the visions – you seem to be embracing them and learning from them. But it appears that's not the only thing that seems to be troubling you."

Thalia sighed, nodding her head. "I fear I may have just destined our people to starve to death, Gaspar."

"There was no other choice, Thalia. Always remember; victory stands on the back of sacrifice."

Thalia nodded, her eyes closing for a moment to think before opening them again. "The Commanders' guidance have been confusing, Gaspar. I'm not sure what they mean."

Gaspar frowned, "what are they saying?"

"She keeps repeating 'have faith, hope will arrive when the box is opened'. What does she mean?"

"I'm sure it's just mutterings of a fallen leader, remember my teachings and you'll know what you should do. Trust in the Flame, they chose wisely when they decided you to lead us. You doubt yourself too much." Gaspar smiled at Thalia, placing a hand on her cheek.

Thalia didn't return his smile, shrugging him off as she mentally fought off tears. "Because almost everyone who's supposed to help me are doubting me due to things out of my control. I won my conclave, I carry the legacy left behind by every other Commander, why isn't that enough?"

Ever since Thalia became Commander; she had to deal with the knowledge that almost every single day, she wasn't the one they wanted and that she was stupid and weak. She had done everything in her power to make people see that she deserved to be the leader, but nobody seemed to see it.

She knew that showing emotions was weakness, but there was only so much judgement a person could take before they broke, and Thalia was close to breaking point, there was no denying that.

It was now no longer a matter of if, it was a matter of when.

Thalia knew a break was coming, she just needed to be prepared for it and contain it. The last Commander who had a breakdown, killed half of their advisors before wondering off into the Dead Zone for three weeks. He later came back mentally damaged and became a feared leader.

In fact, it was a well-known fact that a damaged Commander was far more dangerous than any young and reckless Commander. A damaged Commander knows how to kill and how to survive and won't show any mercy while also knowing how to keep their people in line.

_Perhaps becoming that would make my people see that I am their rightful leader_, Thalia mused.

"You do have the power to remove them from their positions, y'know."

Thalia nodded, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "But I've also been told that kicking my advisors off the balcony isn't the correct way to remove them from their positions."

Gaspar smiled, too, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of Thalia's head. "Get some sleep, Commander. Tomorrow will be a brighter day, and all will make sense."

Thalia watched him leave, her heart sinking a little inside her chest. She _hated _the nights. Nights never gave her peace, no matter how hard she prayed or how many tears she would shed.

Nobody would help her, or make it stop.

Getting ready for bed, Thalia looked at herself in the mirror one last time before looking at her empty bed, a bolt of lightning illuminating it, almost feeling like a premonition of what was to come. "Please let this night be peaceful."

* * *

_**Note**_

Hopefully, this wasn't as bad as it was inside my head. And before anyone asks or mentions it, yes this has a lot of things from The 100. Just bear with me.

I'm not sure how many updates you guys will get with this as I'm juggling work and studying at the same time and let me tell you, it's exhausting. But I promise I'll try to update as much as I can!

Name of the story is from Oblivion by M83 so I recommend you give that a listen to help get into the feel of the story.

This story is dedicated to the lovely DanniFielding because I would not be writing this story if I hadn't read hers so I am forever grateful to her.

Until next time


	2. Chapter One

In the morning, the storm was over and the ground was basking in the light of the two suns that hung in the skies, leaving the world in a slight orange haze. From the balcony, Thalia could see almost the entire colony; with the dense woodland with glowing butterflies to the east, snow-topped mountains to the north and the endless blue and green pastures to the west.

From the outside looking in, it looked perfect.

But Thalia knew that her people were suffering and there was almost nothing she could do about it.

_There is always the option to slaughter them all while they sleep, _a voice suggested.

"I'm not committing genocide, Commander. Just because you did it once doesn't mean we all have to do it," Thalia hissed, turning away from the balcony to walk back inside her room.

Usually, she wouldn't have said anything in response to the voices in her head and ignored their existence but they were slowly driving her insane. It was bad enough that she had her own thoughts and feelings, but dealing with twenty-two other people's? Frankly, she was surprised she hadn't completely lost the plot.

The doors opened to reveal Gaspar, carrying a tray of food for Thalia. He placed it down on a table before addressing her. "Good morning, Commander. I trust you rested well."

Thalia eyed the food suspiciously. A bowl of plain and dull looking soup and some vegetables. The same as usual. "I rested, no need to know if it was well." She sat down at the table and began picking at her food, giving side glances towards Gaspar, who'd sat down on a chair across the room from her, watching her eat as he always did.

The doors burst open to reveal a breathless guard, who'd clearly ran up many flights of stairs. He took a few moments to catch his breath before speaking up. "Commander, we've found someone, doesn't appear to be with the invaders, we've taken them to the crypt."

Thalia swallowed, narrowing her eyes a little at the guard. "Why did you put them in the most sacred place in the entire colony?"

The guard hesitated, being careful of his next words, knowing that if he said anything wrong, he would be thrown of the balcony. "The cells were flooded, Commander."

Thalia sighed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, of course they were. Alright, let's go down." She pushed her chair away from the table and walked out of the room, the guard close behind her. "Where'd you find this person?"

"Wondering around close to Eden's Pass, Commander. Managed to get to him just in time before the invaders got to him." The guard answered, lighting a torch to guide the pair of them into the dark tunnels under the tower that led to the crypt.

Thalia wasn't overly fond of going into the crypt, it was always dark, damp and cold and it almost always gave her an overall creepy vibe. It also made the voices in her head a whole load louder, almost unbearable.

Every time she came down, it really made her question of the rumours that the past Commanders were buried under the floor, and that the first Commander's body is actually sealed in the walls.

That's not true, _right_?

The crypt was the most sacred place in the entire city. It was a shrine to every Commander that had ever been, with all of their names written on the wall and which sector they had come from. Their stories of their suffering, sacrifices and victories were drawn on the walls, too.

Both of those things combined gave the whole crypt an already creepy feeling, but the added fact that the crypt was completely underground and the only way it's illuminated were torches that hung from the walls and a few scattered across the floor.

Arriving at the crypt, Thalia was surprised to see that all the torches were lit and a man was studying the walls and talking to himself as he studied the writings and drawings dotted around the walls.

Holding an arm out to the guard to keep him back, Thalia hesitantly walked towards the man. "Hello?" Thalia called out, her voice echoing and bouncing off the walls of the crypt. Thalia's heart pounded inside her chest, trying to not let her fear consume her but with everything that had happened – she was sure it was okay to be a little afraid.

The man turned towards Thalia and ran up to her, flashing a bright green light in front of her eyes. "Finally! Someone to explain what the hell is happening. Honestly, your customer service needs a lot of work."

Thalia blinked as the light stung her eyes, instantly overwhelmed and majorly confused. "If you could not shine that light directly into my eyes, I would appreciate it greatly… I'm getting the sense that you're not from around here."

The man paused, turning the light off. "What gave it away?"

Thalia looked at him, looking him over. "Well, the technology for one – haven't had torches like that in almost a century and you haven't formally addressed me as all people should. The accent, too. I've heard recordings of such accents but hearing it in real life is not what I expected."

He looked at Thalia before turning the light back on and waving it around her before looking at it, his eyes widening in realisation. "Oh, Commander Thalia, I am so sorry. Forgive me for my informalities."

Thalia gave him a slight nod. "You are forgiven. May I know who you are?"

The man cleared his throat. "I'm the Doctor, there's usually someone else with me but she's… uh… otherwise engaged."

"Well, I have around the clock guards always on the lookout, so if we find anyone else on the outside, we'll bring them in."

The Doctor frowned a little, tapping his screwdriver on his forehead. "The question I should ask is why? Why do you have guards everywhere?"

"You really are not from around here, then. We are at war, Doctor. I have to protect my people one way or another."

"So you sealed them inside the city with no chance of escape?"

"We had no other choice. Nothing gets out, yes, but also nothing can get in."

The Doctor shook his head. "Why not let them in the invaders, as you call them? Maybe you can reason with them?"

Thalia sighed. "We tried, but there was nothing we could do. We've lost almost the entire colony and we don't know what else to do."

"Practically leaving your people to die maybe isn't the best option."

"We had no other choice, Doctor. My people, my responsibility."

"No. Don't do that." The Doctor pointed at her, walking away from her to walk over to the other side of the room.

"Do what?" Thalia asked, confused as she walked after him.

"Act like you're in charge and that you're the only one who can solve the problem."

_Because that's what I _am, Thalia wanted to answer but she sighed instead, rubbing the side of her head. "You're different from what I expected."

"What were you expecting?"

"I was expecting a hero. But it appears I've been given an idiot instead."

"Idiot?_ Idiot_? Who are you calling an idiot? You don't even have Wi-Fi down here."

Thalia's eyes narrowed. "Your words mean little to me. You're lucky I don't have you executed on the spot."

The Doctor scoffed. "Execute me? I'd love to see you try."

Just as Thalia was about to reach for her sword and behead the Doctor, the guard interrupted her, the small sounds of horns blowing reaching the crypt. "Commander, there's word from Eden's Pass – they're here, and they're demanding to speak with you."

* * *

_**Note**_

I really wanted this to be longer but I kind of felt like this was a good place to end the first chapter.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Until next time


	3. Chapter Two

Thalia stiffened at the guard's words, all thoughts of beheading the Doctor were promptly forgotten, she had a duty to perform and people to protect. Her people, her responsibility.

Turning to the guard, Thalia gave him a slight nod. "Take us to them." She then turned to the Doctor. "I will handle this on my own; you just sit back, watch and don't say a word."

The guard walked off with Thalia and eventually the Doctor following behind him. From behind her, Thalia heard the Doctor scoff. "I doubt they'd listen to a child."

Thalia stopped for a moment to let the Doctor catch up with her before continuing, throwing him a death glare. "I'm not a child, I'm twenty, thank you, Doctor. My people, my responsibility, remember?"

"Oh yes, of course, you're going to be the saviour of the planet."

"Yes I am, got a problem with that?"

The Doctor paused for a second. "Not at all. It's usually my job anyway."

Thalia scoffed. "Superiority complex, much?"

"I could say the same thing about you."

"In all the years you've been around, has anyone ever punched you in the face?"

"Surprisingly, yes they have."

"Well, if you keep this up, my name will be added to that list."

The Doctor fell silent after that, obviously not wanting to be punched. Although, admittedly, he did wonder how Thalia would be able to reach his face as their height difference was fairly obvious as the Doctor towered over Thalia, even when she was several steps ahead of him on the staircase.

The pair stepped into the sunlight, squinting as their eyes adjusted to the brightness. By the time the Doctor had stopped squinting, Thalia was already waiting for him by the front doors of the tower and talking with of the two guards. "Where's Gaspar? He should be here."

The guard bowed his head a little out of respect for his Commander. "I'm sorry, Commander. Gaspar has urgent matters to attend to, he sends his sincerest apologies and reminds you to remember his teachings."

Thalia nodded, thanking the guard with a nod before stepping out of the door, with the Doctor close behind her. "I'm sure you're curious about what life is like here and what has happened, so ask away."

The Doctor cleared his throat. "This is Nira, one of the first successful non-Earth human colonies, despite being only four percent habitable. You've been here for over three hundred years, give or take due to the condition of the homes and the tower due to the storms and radiation levels.

From what I've been able to hear from your guards; a week ago, something crashed in the woods, scouts were sent out to investigate and they returned bewitched; ranting and raving about salvation and managed to turn most of the colony into emotionless soldiers of a false paradise. Seems to me, they've had their minds altered, but the purpose seems to be unknown for now."

Thalia nodded, her eyebrows rising a little. "I'm impressed you did your research. It seems you are a man of logic and truth, rather than of superstition and belief; you think like a Commander."

The Doctor firmly shook his head. "I'm nothing like a Commander."

Thalia's eyes narrowed, choosing not to respond to him and continue to walk through the busy streets of the city, the streets parting like the red sea as Thalia walked through them. The Doctor walking meekly behind her, almost amazed by the power of a seemingly child right in front of him.

While they'd been talking, he hadn't realised that the busy streets had been parted just for Thalia – he couldn't tell if they did it out of respect or fear, or a combination of the two. _Once I get back to the TARDIS, I'll have to see what the fuss is about_, he mused.

Arriving at the north gate, Thalia nodded towards one of the guards to open it. Slowly, the gates were raised and revealed a group of around twenty. They all had blank expressions other than the person at the front, whose expression was akin to a mother comforting a crying child – only it was placed onto a man in his mid-thirties with no hair, giving almost everyone an uncomfortable feeling.

Swallowing hard, Thalia stepped forward and spoke up in the most threatening voice she could muster. "My name is Commander Thalia of the Ice Nation, leader of One Clan; if you're looking for someone with more authority than me, you will not find them here."

"Commander Thalia, do we have your attention now?" The leader asked, taking a single step forward to make the gap between him and Thalia smaller, intimidating her.

"Yes, you have my attention. But you didn't have to do this in order to get it. This ends right here, right now."

The leader smirked, shaking his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that, we're so close to finishing what we've started."

"Listen to me very carefully, I will not stop until my people are free." Thalia unsheathed her sword, taking slow and deep breaths. "I will do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of my people. And if that means I slaughter each and every one of you, then I will do it. We have a code here; you are with One Clan, or you are the enemy of One Clan – choose."

"You wouldn't do that to your own people, you don't have the willpower."

"I would. Somewhere in all your memories is me or others who hold the name of the Commander and you know that none of us would hesitate in eliminating any threat that came to our people."

The leader grabbed Thalia's arm, forcing her closer to him and hissed into her ear. "Everything you think you know about the Commanders is a lie, Thalia. Pay us a visit if you want the truth," he forced something small into Thalia's hand before releasing her and backing away from her, just enough for the guards to be able to close the gates without hurting anyone.

Thalia stood in stunned silence, almost unable to move. She wasn't sure what to think or what she should be thinking. Her brain was still processing everything. She wanted to scream and cry and burn everything to the ground but she had to hold everything back until she was alone – feelings were weakness, after all.

She needed answers and she needed to get away from the protection of her people in order to get them, and although that scared her, she would do it without hesitation.

Looking down at her hand, she saw the small disc shaped object that had been placed in her hand. It was clear, almost completely see through but had a dark blue infinity symbol across the middle of it. She knew that symbol – it was all over the walls in the crypt, the sacred symbol of the Commanders.

_Perhaps it's true. Everything the Commanders are is a lie._

* * *

_**Note**_

Happy 2020! First update of the new year, even though it's closer to February by now, whoops.

I hope you guys enjoyed this update, sorry it took so long, writer's block can be a nasty one.

Until next time.


	4. Chapter Three

Thalia and the Doctor were in Thalia's private room, taking it in turns to pace around the room. Pacing in stressful times seemed to be the only thing the pair could agree that they had in common. The pair had paced in the same place so many times since they'd arrived, Thalia was almost worried that they'd make a hole in the floor.

"Are you _certain_ about what he said?" the Doctor asked, pausing his pacing to point at Thalia.

Thalia nodded, folding her arms over her chest. "I remember it very vividly, Doctor. He told me that the one thing I've dedicated my life to for the past fifteen years has been a lie – it's not something I'd forget in a heartbeat."

The Doctor continued his pacing after Thalia spoke, Thalia's eyes watching him go back and forth. The small disc in her hand felt like it was burning a hole through her skin. She knew she should mention it to the Doctor but all the Commanders were telling her not to – all but one. One voice was urging her to tell the Doctor; show him the disc and ask what it means.

"Doctor," Thalia heaved a deep sigh and opened her hand, revealing the disc. "He also handed me this, I'm not sure what it is but it has the sacred symbol of the Commanders on it and it's bothering me."

The Doctor stopped his pacing, delicately taking the disc from Thalia and held it in his hand, as if it was made of glass and was about to break at the slightest touch. He grabbed his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket and scanned the disc before looking at the readings.

He was silent for a few moments as he scanned it again and then scanned Thalia, causing the brunette to frown at him in confusion. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered, still looking at the readings. "Because I'm getting the same readings from the disc as I am from you – both are some form of AI."

Thalia just looked more confused, subconsciously rubbing the back of her neck with a few fingers. "I'm sorry, but AI? Are you sure? That thing must be faulty."

"My sonic isn't faulty, it's you, Thalia. You're the problem here."

Thalia took a step back from the Doctor, shaking her head slowly as tears welled up in her eyes. "No. There's got to be some mistake, Doctor. There's nothing wrong with me. I don't know what would be wrong with me."

"I think you do know, Thalia." The Doctor told her slowly, taking a step towards her. "I think you know _exactly _what's going on here."

Thalia took a deep and shaky breath, trying to ignore her tears. "I guess you know about the Flame, then. I don't need to explain what it is."

"Of course I know about the Flame, Thalia. If you do any amount of research about Nira, you'll find out about the artificial intelligence passed down from Commander to Commander. Only this AI stores memories, it becomes a living consciousness inside your head. All that noise, Thalia, all that noise inside your head," the Doctor placed a hand on Thalia's cheek. "Have you ever stopped and wondered why those voices are there?"

Thalia thought for a second, shrugging out of the Doctor's touch. "I've always been told it's part of the curse of the Commander, we're cursed to live with the spirits of past Commanders."

The Doctor hesitated, looking back at the disc. "And you say this is the sacred symbol of the Commanders? Why is it an infinity symbol?"

Thalia looked down at the disc too before looking back up at the Doctor. "United in our sacrifice and suffering, as one Commander falls, another rises; the eternal cycle."

The Doctor was quiet for a moment before speaking up. "We're going to need to go back down to the crypt."

Back in the pitch black of the crypt, Thalia followed after the Doctor with the torch, trying to ignore the nagging voices at the back of her mind, telling her to kill the Doctor and hide his body in the crypt where he wouldn't be found.

_It'll be so easy, Thalia. Nobody would ever find out that he ever went missing. You could use the knife you have hidden in your boot._

"I'm not doing it," Thalia muttered quietly, tightening the grip on the torch.

"What're they telling you to do?" the Doctor asked, looking back at Thalia, the light from his screwdriver shining in her eyes.

Thalia flinched at the bright light before answering, moving the Doctor's arm down to move the light away from her face. "They're telling me to kill you. Since you know what the Flame actually is, you clearly know too much. And people who know too much, must surely die. It's how the Commanders have survived so long."

"You kill anyone who knows the slightest bit too much?" the Doctor raised his voice, allowing it to echo around the empty crypt.

Thalia hesitated. "The Commanders is a tradition lasting three hundred years, twenty-three of the strongest of us have held the title," she paused to raise the torch to reveal the names carved into the stone. "We'll do anything to protect that legacy and-"

The Doctor cut her off by placing a finger on her lips. "Thalia," the Doctor whispered, his finger dropping. "Do you ever get the feeling that you're being watched?"

Thalia gulped, slowly nodding her head. "I was afraid you'd ask that… because yes, I do. All the time when I'm down here."

Thalia and the Doctor looked at each other before slowly turning to look behind them. Thalia's eyes widened as she dropped the torch, her hand clasping over her mouth.

Behind them, on a stick was the decapitated head of Gaspar.

* * *

_**Note**_

Sorry this took so long to put up, writer's block can really be a nasty one to deal with. But I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

Until next time.


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